CREINIUM

Project Utopia

Anmeldt av Matt Coe

(Inverse Records, 2014)

Karakter: 5.5/6

Active for a brief two years, this Finnish band perform in a slightly technical dark death/black metal manner for this 5 song EP "Project Utopia". As a sextet, Creinium are able to spit out a multitude of feelings and moods dependent on the need of the individual song. Post-rock and doomy meets slightly black metal on the title cut, more symphonic in a Therion meets Mercyful Fate way on "Eschaton" - you never know what to really expect other than the fact that this isn't a typical sound and as such can be quite intriguing after multiple exposures.

Vocalist Sami Haimilahti (who recently left Creinium due to personal issues) has a great sense of when to unleash the dark growls or clean melodies to mirror the atmospheric passages- giving the stellar 9:43 closer "Synthetic Paradise" an open forum for fierceness, engagement, and unrelenting tenacity from start to finish. Keyboardist Antti Myllynen factors in just as prominently as the guitar layering from Tone Nyström and Mikko Asplund - but do not expect this triple synchronicity speed wall of sound, as the band prefer to keep things around a slower, building context.

30 minutes that whirs by in quick fashion, "Project Utopia" should make waves in a good way for the band. Let's hope they arm themselves with a reputable vocal replacement, as Creinium is too good to lose momentum at this point in their young careers.